The discussion of the background art is included exclusively for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to was common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention in Australia or elsewhere before the priority date.
It is known that on special occasions or as a sign of affection, greeting cards may be given by one person known as the sender, to another person known as the recipient. Such greeting cards are normally manufactured in a booklet style such that the front cover incorporates a design, message, photograph or a combination of these. The booklet style greeting card may be folded flat, placed in an envelope and sent by mail to the intended recipient; generally, when received, the recipient knows beforehand what is inside the envelope before opening it. There is no anticipation, wonder, excitement or surprise factor: a greeting card is a greeting card. The booklet style greeting cards are normally displayed by the recipient for a short period of time.
In recent times attempts have been made to add excitement and life to greeting cards by the introduction of pop up cards and three dimensional greeting cards
The greeting card has virtually stagnated, being, consistently similar and consistently familiar. It is what it is and has remained so for approx 650 years.
The booklet style greeting card generally is often difficult to display and when the greeting card is displayed, only the front cover or the inside cover or page are displayed and a slight breeze will topple them off the furniture.
There have been various proposals to enhance the sentiment or interest engendered by greeting cards through a provision enabling them to be assembled into a three-dimensional form for display.
Besides U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/654,125, Australian Paten Application No. 2008207283, Chinese Patent Application No. 200880008541.1, Mexican Patent Application No. MX/a/2009/007621, Brazilian Patent Application No. P1000806769-4, Indian Patent Application No. 1536/MUMNP/2009, and PCT application no. AU2008/000039, examples of such proposal are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,616,199, 2,696,690, 3,134,708, 3,571,958, 6,173,515, 7,596,896 B2, 7,490,425 B2, 7,409,787 B2, 7,316,085 B1, 5,933,989, 526,172; U.S. Pat. No. 7,100,317 and Martha Stewart Living Magazine December 2000 Issue pg 90, “Paper Plate Angels”, H. Hayes (U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,262 (also Re. 22,109) and Sylvan (http:crafts.kaboose.com/angel-and-singer-ornaments.htm http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/cegif/orn/ang-horn.gif)
While some such proposals may be effective in creating interest and allowing display in the three-dimensional form, they can be rather complicated to erect and/or not sufficiently stable when in the erected condition for display purposes. A greeting card should be ever evolving and always presenting new options for the sender and excitement to the recipient. The present invention provides for greater remembrance of the sender upon the greeting card being received, and long after other kind of greeting cards are stored or thrown away. Businesses and corporations can have their own individual style in their communications/advertisements to their customers customized in greeting card of the invention designed to their specification and with the same aforementioned qualities.
The present invention seeks to overcome at least in part the aforementioned disadvantages or limitations of the prior art and provide innovative advancements and useful choices to the prior art arrangements referred to above.
When the article is being purchased, the buyer may choose from a range of characters, scenes, sports, etc, and words in most languages. There are also variant degrees of simplicity, creativity, intrigue, interactivity and complexities to choose from. These options are created by the different designs and art used, layout and number of the portions, hinges, spaced engagements means, adhering means, apertures and cords. By mixing these coordinates and strategically adding and removing some, the arrangements are always different. As the coordinates are folded into place, the coordinated art work is then appreciated.
The article in its simplest form requires only a bend, a flip and a stick to realize its three dimensional form. It is simple, yet, intriguing. There is also anticipation, wonder, excitement, creativity, interactivity and it has a surprise factor. Prior to the complete erection of the article into the simple or the more complex three dimensional form, it is not known what the article will look like, inducing the recipient to experience unexpected emotions as mentioned above. The article in its more complex form varying degrees of challenge to skills, interactivity, ingenuity and mental fortitude to fathom and erect the numerous coordinates into the three dimensional form. The article can be hung, adhered to a support or sat upon a suitable surface. A weight may be applied so that the greeting card can sit in any breezy position in the home or office.